UPP 493:
Urban
Food
Systems
Fall 2013
Winkle
Tuesday
3:30 to 6:15 PM
Art and Design Hall 2232
CRN 34021 and 34022
Course Numbers and Titles
Undergraduates: UPA 493 Topics in Urban Planning and Policy (3 credits) CRN:
34021
Graduates: UPP 493 Topics in Urban Planning and Policy (4 credits) CRN: 34022
Instructor
Curt Winkle, cwinkle@uic.edu 312-996-2155, Room 232, CUPPA Hall.
Office Hours: Tuesdays from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM and by appointment. I’m available
for appointments Tuesday though Friday. You may contact me at cwinkle@uic.edu
or Ann Barnds at abarnd1@uic.edu to make an appointment.
Description
This course explores the role of the production and consumption of food in shaping
urban health, sustainability, security, hunger, resilience culture, community and
economic development. It also explores alternative policies; programs and plans
intended improve urban food systems.
The course uses a seminar format whereby students participate in discussions on
readings, lead discussions, and write and present ones seminar paper. In addition,
students prepare for and engage in a formal debate on an agreed upon topic. This is
supplemented with lectures and a site visit. Students are encouraged to read widely
on the topic and bring up newspaper articles and books they may be reading. A list
of some of the ever-increasing range of books on the topic is given at the end of the
syllabus. There will be at least one site visit to an urban farming site.
Objectives
Students who complete this course should be able to:
1. Know about frameworks for assessing urban food systems.
2. Understand the ways in which food is currently produced and its interaction
with urban systems.
3. Understand the ways in which food is currently consumed and its impact on
health and interaction with urban systems.
4. Understand the state of urban food systems planning.
5. Understand the developing role of planners in shaping the urban food
system.
6. Have successfully argued for a position on an urban food related systems
topic.
7. Have explored in detail on element of the relationship between food and
urban systems.
8. Have identified and assessed at least one alternative program, policy or plan
intended to improve urban food systems.
Required Materials
Required readings are either posted to blackboard or available on line.
Requirements
Requirement
Write seminar paper one
Present seminar paper one
Write and present seminar paper two
Participate in one debate
Participation in class including leading
discussions on readings
Percent of Grade
20 percent
10 percent
20 percent
20 percent
10 percent
Seminar Paper 1
Due: Tuesday, October 8
Identify a question about food systems in space. For example, Example: What is the
impact of run off from urban pocket gardens. Conduct a literature review that
addresses the question. Undergraduate papers should be seven or eight pages
double-spaced pages long reviewing at least three studies and graduate student
papers should be 10 to 15 pages reviewing at least five studies. Present the paper in
class.
Seminar Paper 2
Due: Tuesday, December 10
Identify and assess one or more programs, policies or plans intended to improve
urban food systems. You can assess the plan for its potential utility in a particular
place or in general. You might also choose to do a comparison of two different
approaches or two variants of the same approach. Draw conclusions about the
utility of the program, policy or plan(s). Example: Develop a regulation that
mitigates the negative effects of run off from urban pocket gardens. Or, compare the
strengths and weakness of two or three types of program in mitigating the effects of
runoff. Undergraduate papers should be seven or eight pages and graduate student
papers should be 10 to 15 pages. You are encouraged to resent the paper in class.
Debate
Participate in one debate. One person will take the pro side and the other the con
side. Each will have ten minutes to present their case, with pro going first. This will
be followed by 2 minutes each rebuttal and general class discussion. Arguments
should be supported by appropriate research and facts. You may, but are not
required to submit to me your notes or script. Debate topics might include
assertions such as the following:
1. Historically, food production has been the most important factor in shaping
urban form.
2. Traditional zoning is an effective way of regulating urban agriculture.
3. Organic-certified food is healthier than non-organic-certified food.
4. Culinary tourism is an effective local economic development strategy.
5. Local, sustainable food systems are unable to support current population
size.
6. Disparities in obesity are caused by the existence of food desserts.
7. Additional regulation by local governments is likely to benefit urban farmers.
8. Locally grown food is healthier.
9. Food should be grown in rural areas only.
10. The Farm Bill should be scrapped.
11. Urban back yard chickens are nuisances.
12. Charity is the best way to feed the hungry.
13. Urban food gardening is a waste of time.
14. Local land use policies should privilege agricultural land uses over others.
15. Food shapes cities less now than ever.
16. Restaurant chains can deliver healthy food.
17. Food hubs are a useful economic development technique.
18. Regions should plan for food security such that each region can support itself
in an emergency.
19. Fast food can be sustainable and healthy.
20. Disparities in access to healthy food are determined more by education than
location.
21. US food aid policy helps improve worldwide food security.
22. Organic-certified food is more sustainable than non-organic-certified food.
23. Community Supported Farming (CSF) is a more effective food security
strategy than either farmers’ markets or community gardens.
Lead Discussion
You are expected to participate in discussion regularly. In addition, you will choose
two (in some cases three) readings, depending on the number of people in class, for
which you will lead class discussion. When leading discussion, you should do
something like the following without giving a blow-by-blow account of the readings,
which everyone will have read:
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Say something about the significance of the reading, perhaps by telling us
how it has been influential (if it has), telling us more about the author, or
relating the reading to other concepts discussed in class.
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State the major argument or thesis of the reading.
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Tell us how the author investigated the issue. What methods and data were
used?
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Critique the article, and then state whether or not you agree with the thesis
and conclusions of the author.
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Ask two questions related to the reading to get discussion going.
There are frequent news articles and many books and on food systems. I encourage
you to read widely and summarize and discuss articles and books in class as you
find and read them. Here is a range of books I’ve seen on the topic, but you will
undoubtedly find others:
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Allen, Patricia. Together at the Table
Altieri, Agroecology, 1995
Astyk and Newton. A Nation of Farmers
Barlett, Peggy. Urban Place: Reconnecting with the Natural World
Berger, Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America
Blatt, Harvey. America’s Food
Coe. Americas First Cuisines
Corum, et al. The New Farmer’s Market
Counihan and Van Esterik. Food and Culture
De la Salle and Holland, Agricultural Urbanism: Handbook for Building
Sustainable Food Systems in 21st Century Cities, 2010
Desrochers and Shimizu The locavore's dilemma in praise of the 10,000-mile
diet
Dewar and Watson. Urban Markets
Eastabrook, B 2011. Tomatoland
Estabrook, Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our
Most Alluring Fruit, 2012
Feldt, Garden Your City
Franck, Food and the City
Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We Need a Green Revolution-and How It Can Renew America, 2009
Greenberg, Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food, 2011
Guthman, Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism,
2011
Guthman, Weighing in. Obesity, food justice and the limits of Capitalism,
2011
Herzog, Some we love, some we hate, some we eat: why its so hard to think
straight about animals, 2010
Hinriches and Lyson, Remaking the North American Food System: Strategies
for Sustainability, 2009
Hinrichs and Lyson (Eds.) Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and
Community, 2004
Hinrichs and Lyson. Remaking the North American Food System
Hodgson, Campbell and Bailkey, Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy,
Sustainable Communities, 2010
Hodgson, Caton and Kailkey, PAS report 563. Urban Agriculture: Growing
Healthy, Sustainable Places, 2011
Katz, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, 2006
Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
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Koc, et al. For Hunger Proof Cities
Korten, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, 2007
Ladner, The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities, 2011
Lang and Heasman. Food Wars
Lappe and Lappe, Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet, 2003
Lawson, City Bountiful
Lewis, The Jungle
Lyson, Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community, 2004
McWilliams, Factories in the Field
McWilliams, Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How
Merrifield and Gorelick, Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local
Alternatives to Global Agribusiness, 2002
Mougeot, Agropolis
Mougeot, Growing Better Cities
Nestle, Food Politics
Nordahl, Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture, 2009
Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved
Paul Greenberg 2010. Four Fish. New York . Penguin
Perfecto et al., Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food
Sovereignty, 2009
Petrini, Slow Food Nation
Polin, Omnivores Dilemma, 2006
Pollan, Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, 2009
Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma
Poppendieck, Sweet Charity?: Emergency Food and the End of Entitlement,
1999
Raja, A Planners Guide to Community and Regional Food Planning:
Transforming Food Environments, Facilitating Healthy Eating, 2008
Raja, Born and Russell. PAS report 554. A Planners Guide to Community and
Regional Food Planning: Transforming Food Environments, Facilitating
Healthy Eating. 2008
Register, Ecocities, 2006
Robbins, Lawn People: How Grasses, Weeds, and Chemicals Make Us Who We
Are, 2010
Roberts, The End of Food, 2009
Russell and Lapping, A Long, Deep Furrow: Three Centuries of Farming in
New England, 1982
Salatin, Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the
Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, 2005.
Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, 2012
Schut,. Food and Faith
Tinker, Street Foods
Trubek, The Taste of Place
Viljoen, Continuously Productive Urban Landscapes
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Weber, Food INC.
Wilk, Fast Food/Slow Food
Willand and Bell, Edens Lost and Found
Winne, Closing the Food Gap
Woelfle-erskine, Urban Wilds
Zola, La Terre
Date, Topic and Readings Due
Week 1)
Introduction to Urban Food Systems—August 27
a) Pothukuchi, K and J Kaufman. “The food system: A stranger to urban
planning.” Journal of the American Planning Association, 66(2): 113:24,
Spring. 2000.
Week 2)
History of Food and Cities—September 3
a) Diamond, Jared. “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” In
Discover Magazine. May 1987.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2100251/Jared-Diamond-The-Worst-Mistakein-the-History-of-the-Human-Race?classic_ui=1
b) Friedman, Harriet. “Circles of Growing and Eating: The Political Ecology of
Food and Agriculture.” Raymond Grew (Editor) Food in Global History.
Westview, 1999.
c) Steel 1: The Land
d) Steel 2: Supplying the City
e) Carlin, Martha. “Fast Food and Urban Living Standards in Medieval England.”
In. Martha Carlin and Joel T. Rosenthal (Editors) Food and Eating in Medieval
Europe. Hambledon Press, 1998.
f) Morales, Alfonso. “Peddling Policy: Street Vending in Historical and
Contemporary Context.” International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.
20 (3-4): 76-99.
Week 3)
A Systems Approach to Food—September 10
a) De la Salle et al. Chapter 5: Unit of Analysis: The food and Agriculture System.
In Agricultural Urbanism” Hanbook for Buidling Sustainable Food and
Agriculture Systems in 21st Century Cities, Green Frigate Books, 2010.
b) Soma, T., & Wakefield, S. The emerging role of a food system planner:
Integrating food considerations into planning. Journal of Agriculture, Food
Systems, and Community Development, 2(1), 53–64, 2011.
c) Piracha, A. L. and P. J. Marcotullio . Urban Ecosystem Analysis: Identifying
Tools and Methods. Toyko, Japan, United Nations University Institute of
Advanced Studies: 1-22, 2003
d) Vadrevu, KP; J. Cardina, C. Hitzhusen, et al., Case study of an integrated
framework for quantifying agroecosystem health, Ecosystems 11 283, 2008
e) Freedman, D.A. & Bess, K.D. Food systems change and the environment: local
and global connections. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47(3-4);
397-409, 2011.
f) Lang, Tim 'Reshaping the Food System for Ecological Public Health', Journal
of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 4: 3, 315 — 335, 2009.
Week 4)
Hazards of Industrial Crop and Livestock Production and
Distribution—September 17
a) Pollan: 2 the farm
b) Pollan: 4 the feedlot: making meat
c) Burkholder J.et al. 2007. Impacts of waste from concentrated animal feeding
operations on water quality. Environmental Health Perspectives 115 (2):
308-312.
d) Gilchrist MJ, et al. 2007. The potential role of CAFOs in infectious disease
epidemics and antibiotic resistance.
e) Vorst, van der J.G.A.J., A.J.M. Beulens and P. van Beek (2005), Innovations in
Logistics and ICT in Food Supply Chain Networks, in: Innovation in Agri-Food
Systems, (Eds) W.M.F. Jongen & M.T.G. Meulenberg, Wageningen Academic
Publishers, Wageningen, Chapter 10, p. 245-292
Week 5)
Consumption: Health and Nutrition—September 24
a) Sobal J, Khan LK, Bisogni CA. A conceptual model of the food and nutrition
system. Social Science and Medicine 1998; 47(7):853-63.
b) Lin BH. Healthy Eating Index: Nutrition and health characteristics of lowincome populations. USDA, Economic Research Service, Agricultural
Information Bulletin #796-1.
c) Byker, Carmen, Nick Rose, and Elena Serrano, The Benefits, Challenges, and
Strategies of Adults Following a Local Food Diet. Journal of Agriculture, Food
Systems, and Community Development, 1(1),
d) Cannuscio, Carolyn and Karen Clanz, “Food Environments.” In Andrew L.
Dannenberg, Howard Frumkin, and Richard J. Jackson. Making Healthy
Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-being and Sustainability.
2011.
e) Rundle, Andrew; Kathryn M. Neckerman, Lance Freeman, Gina S. Lovasi,
Marnie Purciel, James Quinn, Catherine Richards, Neelanjan Sircar, and
Christopher Weiss “Neighborhood Food Environment and Walkability
Predict Obesity in New York City” Environmental Health
Week 6)
Consumption: Hunger, Equity, and Security—October 1
a) Dixon, Jane, Abiud M. Omwega, Sharon Friel, Cate Burns, Kelly Donati, and
Rachel Carlisle. “The Health Equity Dimensions of Urban Food Systems” J
Urban Health. 2007 May; 84 (Suppl 1): 118–129.
b) Winne , Mark. “Chapter 2: Regan, Hunger, and the Rise of Food Banks” in
Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty. Beacon
Press: Boston. 2008.
c) Winne 10: Income Disparities, Poverty and the Food Gap, in Closing the Food
Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty. Beacon Press: Boston. 2008.
d) Nixon, H., & Doud, L. (2011). Do fast food restaurants cluster around high
schools? A geospatial analysis of proximity of fast food restaurants to high
schools and the connection to childhood obesity rates. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 2(1), 181–194.
e) FARRMSummary. House Committee on Agriculture. Federal Agriculture
Reform and Risk Management Act Summary 2013. Find other materials on
the Farm bill on line.
f) Moomaw, W., T. Griffin, K. Kurczak, J. Lomax (2012). “The Critical Role of
Global Food Consumption Patterns in Achieving Sustainable Food Systems
and Food for All, A UNEP Discussion Paper”, United Nations Environment
Programme, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, Paris, France.
g) Schmidt, Jürgen. “How to Feed Three Million Inhabitants: Berlin in the First
Years after the Second World War, 1945-1948.” Raymond Grew (Editor)
Food in Global History. Westview, 1999, pp. 63-76.
Week 7)
Midterm Papers Due and Presentations—October 8
Week 8)
Midterm Presentations—October 15
Week 9)
Production—October 22
a) De la Salle et al. Chapter 4: Agricultural Urbanism in a Nutshell
b) De la Salle et al. Chapter 16: Agricultural Urbanism and the Human Being:
Intent, Program, and Scale, by Edward Robbins Porter
c) Hallsworth A and Wong A. VIEWPOINT: Urban gardening: A valuable
activity, but . . . Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community
Development, 3 (2), 11-14. 2013.
d) French, C., Becker, M., & Lindsay, B. (2010, Fall). Havana’s changing urban
agriculture landscape: A shift to the right?. Journal of Agriculture, Food
Systems, and Community Development, 1(2): 155–165.
doi:10.5304/jafscd.2010.012.013
e) Oberholter, L., Clancy, K. and Esseks, J. D. (2010, November). The future of
farming on the urban edge: Insights from fifteen U.S. counties about farmland
protection and farm viability. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and
Community Development, 1(2): 59–75. doi:10.5304/jafscd.2010.012.003
f) De la Salle et al. Chapter 17: Urban and Open-Space Design for Good and
Agriculture, by Steven Clarke, Kelsey Cramer, Joquin Kartakas and Mark
Holland
g) Castillo, SR; Winkle CR; Krauss, S; Turkewitz, A; Silva, C; and Heinemann, ES.
Regulatory and other barriers to urban and peri-urban agriculture: A case
study of the urban planners and urban farmers from the greater Chicago
metropolitan area. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community
Development, 2013.
Week 10)
Processing and Distribution—October 29
a) Day-Farnsworth, L., & Morales, A. (2011). Satiating the demand: Planning for
alternative models of regional food distribution. Journal of Agriculture, Food
Systems, and Community Development. (2011).
b) De la Salle et al. Chapter 15: Integrated Infrastructure for Local Food and
Agriculture, by Bud Fraser
c) Alkon AH. 2008. From value to values: sustainable consumption at farmers
markets. Agriculture and Human Values 25 (4): 487-498.
d) Evans, T. L., & Miewald, C. (2010, December). Assessing the pocket market
model for growing the local food movement: A case study of metropolitan
Vancouver. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community
Development, 1(2): 129–144.
e) Winne 8: Community Supported Agriculture: Community Find the Way
f) Kremer, P., & Schreuder, Y. (2012). “The Feasibility of Regional Food Systems
in Metropolitan Areas: An Investigation of Philadelphia’s Foodshed.” Journal
of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
Week 11)
Site Visit, to be determined, Winkle Traveling—November 5
Week 12)
Community Building, Consumption and Waste—November 12
a) Levkoe, C. Z., & Wakefield, S. (2011).The Community Food Centre: Creating
space for a just, sustainable, and healthy food system . Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development.
b) Krones, S., & Edelson, S. (2011). Building gardens, rebuilding a city:
Baltimore’s Community Greening Resource Network. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 1(3), 133–149.
c) Bleasdale, T., Crouch, C., & Harlan, S. L. (2011). Community gardening in
disadvantaged neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona: Aligning programs with
perceptions. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community
Development, 1(3), 99–114.
d) Horst, M., Ringstrom, E., Tyman, S., Ward, M. K., Werner, V., & Born, B. (2011).
Toward a more expansive understanding of food hubs. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 2(1), 209–225.
e) Jablonski, B. B. R., Perez-Burgos, J., & Gómez, M. I. (2011). Food value chain
development in central New York: CNY Bounty. Journal of Agriculture, Food
Systems, and Community Development, 1(4), 129–141.
Week 13)
Tourism and Economic Development—November 19
a) Schilling, Brian J., Kevin P. Sullivan, and Stephen J. Komar. "Examining
the economic benefits of agritourism: The case of New Jersey." Journal
of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (2012): 199.
b) Franck, Karen A. The City as Dining Room, Market and Farm. Karen A.
Franck (Editor) Food and the City, Wiley, 2005.
c) Parham, Susan. “Designing the Gastronomic Quarter”. Franck, Karen A.
Franck (Editor) Food and the City, Wiley, 2005.
d) Hurst, Rachel and Jame Lawrence. “Raw, Medium, Well Done: A Typological
Reading of Australian Eating Places. Karen A. Franck (Editor) Food and the
City, Wiley, 2005.
e) Simms, Rebecca. Food, place and authenticity: local food and the sustainable
tourism experience. Journal of Sustainable Tourism; 2009, Vol. 17 Issue 3,
p321-336,
f) Spang, Rebecca L. “All the World’s a Restaurant: On the Global
Gastroeconomics of Tourism and Travel.” Raymond Grew (Editor) Food in
Global History. Westview, 1999, pp. 79- 91.
g) De la Salle et al. Chapter 20: Economic Potential of Urban Agriculture, Peter
Ladner
h) Pothukuchi, K. 2005. Attracting grocery retail to the inner city: Economic
Development outside the box. Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 19, No.
3, 232-244.
i) Sharp, J. S., & Jackson-Smith, D., & Smith, L. (2011). Agricultural economic
development at the rural-urban interface: Community organization, policy,
and agricultural change. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and
Community Development, 1(4), 189–204.
Week 14)
Role of Planning in Food Systems—November 26
a) Desjardins, E., Lubczynski, J., & Xuereb, M. (2011). Incorporating policies for
a healthy food system into land use planning: The case of Waterloo Region,
Canada. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development,
2(1), 127–140.
b) American Planning Association. Policy Guide on Community and Regional
Food Planning, 2007
c) Connell DJ et al. Food sovereignty and agricultural land use planning: The
need to integrate public priorites across jurisdictions. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 2013.
d) Scherb A. et al., Exploring food systems policy: A survey of food policy
councils in the United States. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and
Community Development, August 2012.
Week 15)
Tools for Urban Food Systems Planning—December 3
a) Ikerd, J. (2010, November). Zoning considerations for urban and peri-urban
agriculture. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community
Development, 1(2): 5–7
b) Freedgood, J., Pierce-Quiñonez, M., & Meter, K. A. (2011). Emerging
assessment tools to inform food system planning. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 2(1), 83–104.
c) Masson-Minock, M., & Stockmann, D. (2010, Fall). Creating a legal framework
for urban agriculture: Lessons from Flint, Michigan. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 1(2): 91–104
d) Minaker, L. M., Fisher, P., Raine, K. D., & Frank, L. D. (2011). Measuring the
food environment: From theory to planning practice. Journal of Agriculture,
Food Systems, and Community Development, 2(1), 65– 82.
e) Hu, G., Wang, L., Arendt, S., & Boeckenstedt, R. (2011). An optimization
approach to assessing the self- sustainability potential of food demand in the
Midwestern United States. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and
Community Development., 2(1), 195–207.
f) Mendes, Wendy; Balmer, Kevin; Kaethler, Terra; Rhoads, Amanda. “Using
Land Inventories to Plan for Urban Agriculture: Experiences from Portland
and Vancouver” Journal of the American Planning Association. 2008-1074:4,
435(15)
Week 16)
Finals Week: Papers Due and Recommended Final
Presentations—December 10